Minnesota Football-At the Half Minnesota 17 Oregon State 14

Quick Takeaways

Week 1 the team remains a work in progress. On defense, Cody Poock’s early ejection for targeting was followed by Nick Rallis leaving the game with an upper body injury, testing the linebacker depth early.

Oregon State made extensive use of screens to counter MInnesota’s aggression, scoring late in the second quarter to tie the game after two straight blitzes failed to pressure the QB.

Minnesota began with a redux of last year’s offense, but the Gophers righted the ship in the second quarter as a result of two Oregon State turnovers. Emmit Carpenter made his first field goal to end the half.

Notables

Tai’yon Devers has two sacks and two forced fumbles in his first game. Oregon State’s offensive line may be miserable, but Devers is doing this with excellent fundamentals. Recall that he is a true freshman and was unrated at the time of his commitment. It’s unclear if this is the game of his life or signs of the future, but just remember that stars only matter in February.

Speaking of true freshmen, Tyler Johnson is going to be a heck of a player for the Gophers. He has two catches for 21 yards and showed off some solid blocking on Minnesota’s first touchdown.

The Gophers continue to field excellent punters. Ryan Santoso still has a cannon for a leg, but showed excellent control pinning the Beavers inside their own 10 multiple times.

GoAUpher informs me that they are now serving Surly now at TCF Bank Stadium.